rusty_tlc
Dain Bramaged Member
I've been knocking around the desert for my entire adult life, 40 odd years, and never felt the need of a firearm. Of course we don't have much in the way of large predators down here. (In town is a whole other matterI am not sure how highly I rate the need for a firearm as a part of "expedition" gear. Nothing against them... I carry a handgun every day and I am never in the field without a gun or two. But there is a difference between going out here in the back country of Alaska and traveling across borders to different countries. A gun will buy you more legal trouble than you want to think about in many countries. Heck there are a lot of states in the US that pile the paperwork and regulations on you over firearms if you want to take a gun with you while road tripping.
The odds of needing a gun to procure food are pretty long unless things have gone pretty bad for you in more than one way.
In terms of needing one for self defense... I would rather spend a few years in a Mexican prison than be dead I guess... But I think I would prefer even more to plan and work really hard to avoid putting myself in a situation that has the potential to deteriorate to where using a firearm in another country is my only option.
Mark...

I have however put a fair amount of thought and research into a firearm for survival.
I have concluded that any gun used for personal defense will be practically useless for survival. Except maybe to use as a signaling device, ie three shots fired into the air.
After much thought and research I have concluded that a 22 rifle would be the best choice. The gun itself is light, the ammo is also light, a whole box of 22 longs weigh less than two 30-06 rounds. This affords you the chance to carry a lot of ammo and miss a lot of shots. Small game is much more abundant than large game, a 22 will leave a rabbit or chuckar intact. A 22 is also inexpensive can also be stowed full time inside a quarter panel, appropriately sealed against the environment.
But, as you say, by the time one needs to start hunting for food many other things will have to have gone very wrong.